3rd and Long
The big news on the sport with big hits.
September 2010 - Present -- By BRENDAN MALONE
September 2009 - May 2010 -- By JOHN BIANCARDI
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NFL Blog Feb 2012
2/1/12 2:40 AM
Going into their Christmas Eve rivalry showdown with the New York Jets, the New York Giants’ record stood at 7-7. They were coming off of a brutal home loss to the hapless Washington Redskins and appeared to be in danger of missing the playoffs altogether. Just before halftime of the game against the Jets, Eli Manning hit Victor Cruz on a quick out route. Cruz caught the pass, broke a tackle and ran down the sideline for a 99-yard touchdown. The Giants have not looked back, and for the second time in four years, they find themselves in the Super Bowl after a lackluster regular season. The Patriots’ regular season was completely different. New England cruised to a 13-3 record behind another great year from Tom Brady. They won the AFC East by five games and...Stick a Fork in Eagles, Chargers
11/29/11 11:51 PM
Going into this season, the Eagles and Chargers were expected to cruise to division titles and maybe meet in the Super Bowl. Through 11 games, both teams sit at 4-7. Both are all but eliminated from postseason contention, and their coaches sit firmly in the hot seat. Both teams have gotten extremely disappointing play from their quarterbacks. Michael Vick has shown, once again, that he cannot stay healthy or string together back-to-back productive seasons, and I don’t know what the heck happened to Phillip Rivers this year. Both Vick and Rivers were pre-season MVP candidates, but neither has come close to those expectations. Not meeting expectations has become a yearly theme for the Chargers in the Norv Turner era. Turner took over as head coach of the Chargers in 2007...Midseason Awards
11/15/11 10:32 PM
MVP- AARON RODGERS QB GREEN BAY PACKERS This should be a unanimous decision. You cannot possibly play the quarterback position better than Rodgers has so far this season (24 TD 3 INT 72.5 percent COMP). The Packers don’t have much of a running game, and their defense is 28th in total yards allowed, but they are the only remaining undefeated team in the league because of the way Rodgers is playing. DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR- DARRELLE REVIS CB NEW YORK JETS Revis has been the best defensive player in the league for three years now, but has not won this award yet. He matches up against opponents’ No. 1 receiver every week and shuts them all down. He has single-handedly turned two games in the Jets’ favor with red-zone interceptions, one of...Jets Move into Tie for AFC East Lead
11/9/11 3:02 AM
I will get to the two best games of the weekend in a second, but first I would like to recognize the resurrection of the once dead and buried New York Jets. Just one month ago, this team was coming off a three-game losing streak. There were a couple of verbal sparring matches between wide receiver Santonio Holmes and guard Brandon Moore, rumors spread of Holmes and fellow wide receivers Plaxico Burress and Derrick Mason calling for offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to be fired. Many experts were sounding the alarms and saying the Jets could never recover from the mess they seemed to be in. Well, just one month later the Jets are tied for first place in the wide-open AFC East and have a golden opportunity to take first place this week with a Sunday night home game against the...Steelers Expose Patriots
11/2/11 12:48 AM
The Steelers finally overcame their long-time nemesis the New England Patriots with a 25-17 win in Pittsburgh, and in doing so they have provided the blueprint for beating the Patriots. The Steelers, long known as a team built on a power running game, decided to throw virtually every play against New England’s secondary. The game basically became a 7-on-7 passing drill and the Patriots had no answers. They could not generate a consistent pass rush, and the defensive backs looked like they would struggle to cover receivers in a tailgate football game. Pittsburgh just kept running 10-15 in routes and getting receivers wide open. It was not as though the Steelers were getting by on trick plays and creative schemes; they were torching the Patriots’ secondary by running routes...
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